COVID-19 Emergency Research Articles

Impact of a COVID-19 emergency declaration on blood glucose levels in individuals with type 1 diabetes treated with a sensor-augmented pump

Impact of a COVID-19 emergency declaration on blood glucose levels in individuals with type 1 diabetes treated with a sensor-augmented pump

Chronological trend of social contact patterns in Japan after the emergence of COVID-19.

The social contact data for Japan as of 2022 showed a substantially decreased number of contacts compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether social contact continues to be depressed following the end of countermeasures against the pandemic. There is also scarce evidence regarding the influence of influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) on social contacts in Japan. Therefore, this study examined whether the reduction in contact frequency during the pandemic was temporary or persists today and assessed the impact of ILIs on social mixing patterns. We conducted online questionnaire surveys of individuals who experienced symptoms of ILIs periodically from 2022 to 2024 to compare the number of contacts per day during and after their illnesses. Contact matrices were obtained from the survey data. The impacts of the timing of the survey and the ILIs were examined using negative binomial regression analysis. Contact patterns were generally age-assortative, and the average contact numbers gradually increased from March 2022 to June 2024. Most recently, the median number of contacts per day during illness was 3 (interquartile range [IQR] 2-7) and then rose to 4.5 (IQR 2-11) after recovery. The earlier survey and ILIs showed a negative association with the frequency of social contacts. The frequency of social contacts in Japan tended to rise compared with that in 2021 but has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Individuals tended to decrease their contacts when they had symptoms caused by ILIs.

Examining the Role of Emergency Housing in Safer Supply Prescription Access in British Columbia Amidst Overlapping COVID-19 and Overdose Public Health Emergencies: A Qualitative Study

Examining the Role of Emergency Housing in Safer Supply Prescription Access in British Columbia Amidst Overlapping COVID-19 and Overdose Public Health Emergencies: A Qualitative Study

Decarceration and COVID-19 infections in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities: a simulation modeling study.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities had high rates of COVID-19 infections and mortality during the global pandemic. We sought to quantify how many COVID-19 infections could have been averted through different decarceration strategies. We developed a set of stochastic simulation models of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in ICE facilities. Employing incremental mixture importance sampling (IMIS), we calibrated them to empirical targets derived from publicly available case time series for ICE facilities, and publicly available facility population censuses prior to vaccine availability (May 6, 2020 to December 31, 2020). The models included infection importation from extra-facility sources. We evaluated reduction of the incarcerated population by 10-90%. People who were decarcerated faced background cumulative risks of infection and detection based on a weighted average of county-level estimates from the covidestim model, which is a Bayesian evidence synthesis model. Without decarceration, the infection rate was 5.05 per 1000 person-days (95% CrI 3.40-6.81) and case rate was 1.53 per 1000 person-days (95% CrI 1.04-2.02). Rates declined linearly when decarceration did not reduce contacts of people remaining in facilities and faster than linearly when it did reduce contacts. At all decarceration levels, rates were substantially higher when contacts were not reduced. Even with 90% decarceration, infection rates for people remaining in facilities were higher than or comparable to otherwise similar free-living people. The decline in COVID-19 infection rates with decarceration was linear or faster than linear depending on how decarceration was implemented. Our findings highlight infection risks associated with incarceration, which compound other health harms of incarceration. Stanford's COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Employment industry and opioid overdose risk: A pre- and post-COVID-19 comparison in Kentucky and Massachusetts 2018-2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risk of opioid-related harm, and previous studies suggest a connection between opioid overdose risk and industry of employment. We used descriptive and spatial-statistical tests with opioid overdose data from the vital records offices of Kentucky and Massachusetts to examine opioid overdose rates by employment industry before and after COVID-19 emergency declarations. Both states had consistently high rates of opioid-related overdose mortality for individuals employed in the construction and arts, recreation, food services, and accommodation service industries. Additionally in both states, census tracts with a high percentage of renters and non-Hispanic Black residents were more likely to be located in fatal opioid-related overdose hotspots following the initial surge of COVID-19 cases. In Kentucky, census tracts with higher percentages of employment in the transportation and other services were more likely to be located in an overdose hotspot before and after the COVID-19 emergency declaration, while in Massachusetts the same was true for census tracts with high employment in manufacturing, agriculture, forest, and fisheries, and hunting.

Pulmonary Function Assessment with Spirometry in Symptomatic Post-COVID-19 Patients: A Cross-Sectional study at Dhaka Medical College Hospital

Background: The emergence of COVID-19 has posed challenges in managing the disease and mitigating its long-term effects, particularly on the respiratory system. This study assessed lung function abnormalities through spirometry in symptomatic post-COVID-19 patients in a tertiary care hospital in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital over one year. A total of 100 post-COVID-19 patients with shortness of breath and/or cough 6-8 weeks post-discharge were included. Patients underwent face-to-face interviews, clinical history reviews including previous investigations findings and spirometry tests. Spirometry assessments were classified as normal or restrictive. The severity of restrictive changes were graded from mild to very severe. FEV1 and FVC were measured, and the FEV1/FVC ratio was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 25. Results: The mean age of participants was 51.3±7.27 years, with a male predominance (70% male). Common symptoms included cough (86%), shortness of breath (54%), and weakness (41%). Spirometry showed that 66% had restrictive changes, with mean FEV1 at 61.04±10.69% and FVC at 73.02±12.73%. Restrictive changes in spirometry were significantly predominant in severe COVID-19 cases (p<.05) and were associated with pre-existing conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and smoking history (p<.05). Logistic regression revealed higher odds of restrictive changes with older age, smoking history, disease severity, and the presence of diabetes and hypertension. Conclusion: This study reported a high prevalence of restrictive changes in spirometry in post-COVID-19 patients, associated with disease severity and pre-existing comorbidities. J Bangladesh Coll Phys Surg 2025; 43: 13-19

423. Mirror Mirror on the Wall Who is Driving all the Invasive GAS After All - The Utah Experience

Abstract Background Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) is a common cause of non-invasive mucosal infections as well as rare life-threatening invasive disease. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a decline in invasive GAS (iGAS) disease, followed by an increase in the fall of 2022 with the rise of emm12. Data on the association of circulating non-invasive and invasive emm-types are limited. We sought to characterize and compare emm-types of pharyngeal GAS to iGAS before and after the emergence of COVID-19.Figure 1:Positive GAS pharyngeal culture, PCH ED and iGAS cases by Quarter, Utah Q1 2018 - Q1 2023 Methods We retrospectively identified both pharyngeal and invasive GAS isolates obtained at Primary Children’s Hospital (Salt Lake City, Utah) from 2018-2023 using our GAS isolate database. Pharyngeal isolates were obtained primarily from our emergency department, while iGAS isolates were from hospitalized patients. Isolates underwent whole genome sequencing for emm typing, virulence factor identification, and phylogenetic analysis. We compared pharyngeal and invasive isolates for emm-type distribution over time and the presence of known virulence genes.Figure 2:Invasive and Pharyngeal emm-type Percentages, by Year, Utah 2018-2023 Results From 1/2018 to 4/2023, we identified ∼650 pharyngeal GAS isolates, of which a random subsample of 306 were sequenced; 286 yielded sequences suitable for analysis. We identified 145 iGAS cases; all were sequenced. We observed a marked decrease in pharyngeal GAS from Q2 2020 through Q3 2022, followed by a steep increase which paralleled iGAS (Figure 1). The distribution of emm-types causing iGAS mirrored that of non-invasive pharyngeal isolates over time (Figure 2). Post-pandemic, emm12 and emm1 dominated both pharyngeal and invasive isolates. Comparing virulence genes between pharyngeal and iGAS isolates showed sfbl/prtF1 were strongly associated with invasive disease in emm12 and emm59 (OR: 5.0, 95% CI [2.2-11]) while the presence of sic was strongly associated with invasive disease in emm1 (OR: 16.2, 95% CI [5.6-45.9]). Conclusion After a marked decrease in GAS infections in children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Utah, there was a rebound of disease. Molecular analysis revealed invasive emm-types mirrored trends in pharyngeal isolates. Virulence genes sfbl/prtF1 and sic were associated with invasive disease in emm12 and emm1 respectively. Further analysis of evolutionary relatedness and virulence determinants is ongoing. Disclosures Krow Ampofo, MBChB, Merck: Grant/Research Support Andrew T. Pavia, MD, GSK/Haleon: Advisor/Consultant|Sanofi: Advisor/Consultant Anne J. Blaschke, MD, PhD, BioFire Diagnostics/Biomerieux: I have IP owned by the U. of Utah licensed to BioFire and receive royalties.|Merck & Co: Advisor/Consultant

P-1954. Wastewater-Based Surveillance More Accurately Describes Disease Burden Of COVID-19 In Communities with Less Than 60,000 Inhabitants – An Ontario-Wide Study

Abstract Background The emergence of COVID-19 in Canada prompted extensive efforts in population-wide surveillance, including wastewater-based surveillance (WBS). WBS offers insights into the prevalence of infectious disease burden, however, reasons for poor correlation between hospital admissions and wastewater viral signal in some locations across Ontario remain unclear, while others demonstrate remarkable correlations. This study aims to elucidate the parameters influencing hospitalization-WBS correlation quality to guide infectious disease research and surveillance.Figure 1:Geographic overview of sampling locations in Ontario, Canada Methods Wastewater viral signals and daily hospital admissions geospatially linked with the surveyed sewersheds, were obtained from the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative. The study included 94 sampling sites (Figure 1), excluding those with inadequate sampling frequency. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (ρ) was calculated between hospital admissions and wastewater signals for all included sites during the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 waves from Nov. 1st,2021 to Jun. 30th, 2022. Regression trees were constructed using the R packages “rpart” and “rpart.plot” to identify factors influencing hospitalization-WBS ρ, including population size, hospital admissions range, proportion of zero admissions, and site isolation status.Figure 2:Regression trees representing a classification model for evaluating the correlation quality between hospitalizations and wastewater signal during the Omicron BA.1 wave – coinciding with a period of waned vaccination immunity (A) and the Omicron BA.2 wave – coinciding with a period of significant vaccination immunity (B). Results Regression tree analysis identified critical population size thresholds influencing hospitalization-WBS ρ: populations under 66,000 exhibited weaker ρ (ρ > 0.650) during Omicron BA.1, and under 187,000 during the BA.2 wave (Figure 3). Larger population areas exhibited stronger hospitalization-WBS ρ, suggesting both are reliable infectious disease burden indicators, influenced by differences in community immunity dynamics between the two waves. Conclusion Populations under 66,000 during a period of waned vaccine immunity and under 187,000 during a period of significant vaccine immunity exhibit distinct relationship between hospital admissions and wastewater signals. These thresholds mark key sizes of communities where the efficacy of wastewater surveillance becomes more pronounced, emphasizing its utility in smaller populations where clinical surveillance of infectious diseases may be limited. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Intranasal liposomal remdesivir induces SARS-CoV-2 clearance in K18-hACE2 mice and ensures survival.

A huge challenge after the emergence of COVID-19 has been the discovery of effective antiviral drugs. Although remdesivir (RDV) emerged as one of the most promising drugs, its pharmaceutical formulation Veklury® is limited by moderate efficacy, high toxicity and need for parenteral administration. The aim of the present work was to develop a liposomal formulation of RDV for pulmonary administration and evaluate its efficacy in models of COVID-19. Liposomal RDV nanoformulation (LRDV) was selected based on high drug encapsulation efficiency, sustained drug release property and high in vitro selectivity index. A pharmacokinetic study of intranasal LRDV in mice demonstrated effective delivery of the drug to the lungs. LRDV was then evaluated for its efficacy in SARS-CoV-2-infected K18-hACE2 mice after repeated intranasal administration at 10mg/kg/bid for 5days. Veklury® given intraperitoneally at 20mg/kg/bid was used for comparison. Mice receiving LRDV remained alive up to 15days post-infection (dpi). On the other hand, the control groups receiving PBS and empty liposomes showed 100% death at 6 dpi and the Veklury® group had 62.5% death at 8 dpi. Intranasal LRDV also promoted a strong reduction in viral loads in the brain and lungs of mice and prevented the inflammatory response induced by SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs. This is in contrast with Veklury®, which did not significantly reduce the viral titer in the brain and was poorly effective in preventing the inflammatory response in the lungs. Intranasal LRDV emerges as a promising therapeutic strategy for COVID-19, including "Long COVID".

Examining the Effect of Social Media Communication on COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions: The Mediating Role of Interpersonal Communication and Risk Perception

The emergence of COVID-19, originating from the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, presented a global health crisis that had profound repercussions on societies worldwide. In response, the scientific community mobilized to swiftly develop effective vaccines in an unprecedented manner. Governments around the world launched extensive vaccination campaigns with the goal of attaining widespread immunity and ultimately bringing an end to the pandemic. The success of these endeavors to combat COVID-19 was partially contingent upon individuals’ willingness to receive vaccinations. Thus, understanding the factors influencing people's vaccine intentions becomes crucial for future similar pandemic scenarios. The Indian government implemented numerous strategic social media campaigns to enhance acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine among its populace. These campaigns, executed with careful planning, harnessed various online platforms to communicate accurate information, address concerns, and underscore the vaccine’s significance in containing the virus’s spread. This study delves into the impact of social media communication on COVID-19 vaccine intentions, considering the mediating roles of interpersonal communication and risk perception. Data collected from a cross-sectional survey of 391 participants were subjected to structural equation modeling for analysis. The results indicated that social media communication directly and indirectly influenced vaccine attitudes, mediated by risk perception and interpersonal communication. Consequently, attitudes toward the vaccine significantly affected intentions to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Impact of COVID-19 vaccinations in India: a state-wise analysis

BackgroundEver since the emergence of COVID-19 and its consequent spread across continents, engulfing both advanced and developing nations, COVID-19 vaccine was considered to be the main weapon to curb the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 vaccination program in India started after the first wave of infections (March – December 2020) had almost subsided.ObjectiveIn this work, the objective is to perform a state-wise analysis to assess the impact of vaccination in slowing down the spread of infections during the second COVID-19 wave (February – October 2021) in India. The prediction accuracy of the proposed model with the optimal lag length (in days) after including the impact of vaccination is evaluated and compared with a model without it. A total of 21 states are chosen for the analysis encompassing 97% of the Indian population.MethodsWe use the generalized Gompertz curve to study the COVID-19 outbreak. The generalized Gompertz model is then further modified to study the impact of vaccination to slow down the spread of COVID-19. The modified model considers the cumulative proportion of individuals having the first COVID-19 vaccine shot in each state as the explanatory variable.ResultsBy incorporating the impact of vaccination in the Generalized Gompertz Curves, it is seen that the visible impact of the first dose of the vaccination is observed after a lag of 20 days with 16 out of the 21 states showing the impact of vaccines in curbing the spread of COVID-19. However, in states like Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Kerala, we do not conclusively observe the impact of vaccination during the study period.ConclusionsUsing only COVID-19 infection cases and the vaccination data in the proposed model, we conclude that overall, the vaccination program effectively curbed the spread of COVID-19 in India.

An Exploration of E-Teaching Preparedness of Pre-Service Teachers of Learners with Special Needs

The emergence of COVID-19 presented numerous challenges in the educational sector, particularly for learners with special educational needs (LSEN). Teaching LSEN via the digital space was a challenging endeavour for teachers during the resulting lockdown largely because of their limited capacity and experience. Considering this circumstance, this study explored the e-teaching preparedness of pre-service teachers of LSEN in the post-COVID-19 era. The study, which was underpinned by cognitive constructivism, answered three research questions. Seven pre-service teachers were randomly selected for the study from two publicly funded teacher-training institutions in Nigeria. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on a set of interview guidelines. Data generated were analysed with the ATLAS Ti software through an iterative process in line with the interpretivist paradigm. Findings indicated that institutional efforts at preparing pre-service teachers for e-teaching were lacking; teacher-training curricula remained the same post COVID-19; and there was a low level of planning and maintenance, unreliable internet connectivity, and an erratic power supply. These as well as inadequate funding were factors that influenced the sustainability of various technological facilities which were needed for e-teaching and learning. Recommendations were made based on the findings.

An integrated theoretical study on natural alkaloids as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors: a step toward discovery of potential drug candidates with anti-COVID-19 activity.

Background: in the twenty-first century, the emergence of COVID-19 as a highly transmissible pandemic disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 posed a significant threat to humanity. Aims & Objectives: the disease spreads through small respiratory droplets, necessitating the use of various compounds for treatment, with alkaloids being recognized as particularly crucial owing to their diverse pharmaceutical properties. Methodology: in this study, a dataset comprising 100 natural alkaloids obtained from the literature was transformed into 2D chemical structures using Chem Draw 19.1. Subsequently, 3DQSAR studies were conducted on the dataset, resulting in the automatic screening of 50 compounds from the initial pool of 100 compounds. The values of q 2 and r 2 of the validated field-based 3DQSAR model were 0.7186 and 0.971, respectively. The validated atom-based 3DQSAR model has q 2 and r 2 scores of 0.6025 and 0.9845, respectively. Based on the obtained results, 10 compounds with exceptionally active predictive IC50 values were selected for further analysis. Docking experiments were then performed on the selected compounds, and the top three compounds with the highest docking scores were identified as diazepinomicin, (+)-N-methylisococlaurine, and hymenocardine-H. After docking, MM-GBSA was performed on the complexes of diazepinomicin, (+)-N-methylisococlaurine and hymenocardine-H with their corresponding proteins, which resulted in the authentication of the molecular docking scores. MD simulations were also performed to check the flexibility, stability and compactness of these complexes for revalidation of docking scores. Results: finally, ADMET experiments revealed that (+)-N-methylisococlaurine exhibited the most favourable properties among these three compounds.

Customer Relationship Management initiatives in Pharmaceutical Industry in India: The Newer and emerging trends of CRM & their impact

Pharmaceutical industry in India is one of the fastest growing industries in the country today, growing with an average CGAR of 8.5% with an approx. market size of approx. 2 trillion. The relevance of the Indian Pharmaceutical industry can be measured by the fact that today India is considered as the Pharmacy of the World. However, the industry is now experiencing a rapid change because of the changing scenario in the field of Pharmaceutical Marketing. The dependence of marketing strategies on Key Opinion leaders or decision maker Doctors had given rise to newer trends of marketing strategies to win over the confidence of KOLs. In the current scenario the most important tool which Pharma companies use to retain their KOLs is Customer Relationship management initiatives. Although Indian Pharmaceutical companies are practicing these CRM based marketing since last 2-3 decades or so, there seems a huge paradigm shift from traditional mode of customer relationship management (CRM) to the highly advanced and intuitive means of CRM initiatives, which are in practice now a days. This paradigm shift which was happening at a steady pace, have been hastened due to the sudden emergence of Covid-19. This paper tries to explore these changing trends of CRM marketing strategies adapted by the Indian Pharmaceutical industry, in the field of pharmaceutical marketing in India & the extent of their impact on medical practitioners in India, for whom they are designed.

Insurance gaps at age-19 and age-26 health insurance eligibility thresholds by childhood-onset condition severity, Colorado 2014-2018.

To characterize health insurance gap patterns related to age-19 Medicaid and age-26 commercial age-eligibility cutoffs. This descriptive analysis spans 2014-2018, after Affordable Care Act implementation, but before COVID-19 emergency provisions. We defined insurance gaps as ≥3 consecutive months without observed enrollment, preceded and followed by ≥1 month of enrollment and stratified results by insurance source and clinical severity (e.g., with chronic, complex, or disabling conditions or not). The Colorado all-payer claims database provided data for enrollees aged 10-29, 52% (649,346) of whom were initially Medicaid insured, whereas 47% (576,596) were commercially insured. The percent of enrollees with insurance gaps peaks within six months of turning age-19 and age-26-at 8.9% Medicaid and 8.7% commercial, respectively. The percentage point difference between ages 27-28 and 11-18 was 3.3 percentage points higher for prior Medicaid recipients (p < 0.001) and 2.2 percentage points greater for prior commercial enrollees (p < 0.001). Relative to the other clinical severity groups, young adults with disabling health conditions who were initially Medicaid insured had the lowest peak gap rate, 5.7%, compared with 10.5% among the previously commercially insured; this latter finding was sensitive to gap specification. Young adults would likely benefit from greater attention to age-19 and age-26 health insurance "unwinding."

Care-seeking in the presence of signs of sexually transmitted infections in Moroccan women: A comparison between the COVID-19 pandemic and pre-pandemic era

Background &amp; Aim: The emergence of COVID-19 has had significant effects on access to screening services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study aimed to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on care-seeking in the presence of signs of STIs among women of childbearing age in the Essaouira province of Morocco between April and June 2020. Materials &amp; Methods: A comparative and cross-sectional approach was used for the objectives of the study. It was a comparative analysis of the programmatic data from April, May, and June 2019 and from April, May, and June 2020. In addition, data were collected from women of childbearing age in 2021 via a questionnaire. Results: Among the 1,100 selected women, 425 who reported having experienced symptoms of STIs during the COVID-19 pandemic were interviewed. 72.2% reported seeking health care from a qualified professional. The study revealed a relationship between women's healthcare seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic (p&lt;0.05) and factors such as place of residence, education, marital status, socioeconomic status, and distance from healthcare facilities. The analysis of the distribution of data regarding syndromic reporting of STIs, between 2019 and 2020, revealed a difference of 17.2%. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic hindered the search for treatments for signs of STIs in women of childbearing age, with a 17.2% decrease in cases in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. However, the role of healthcare professionals remains crucial for maintaining awareness, screening, and treatment of these infections.

Plant-based Therapeutics for Aspergillus Co-infections in COVID-19 Patients Illuminating Phytochemical Mechanisms

The emergence of COVID-19 has highlightedthe issue of secondary fungal infections, such as COVID-19-Associated invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis (CAPA), in critically ill patients. Continuous use of therapies employing steroids and immune-modulating agents has increased the risk of co-infections resulting from fungi, further weakening the respiratory systems of patients and leading to complex situations such as multi-organ failure and elevated mortality. The increasing occurrence of antifungal resistance in Aspergillus strains has made the management of these infections challenging, highlighting the need for novel and effective antifungal agents. Plants and their bioactive compounds offer promising alternatives to conventional antifungal medications. Phytochemicals such as 1,8-cineole from Eucalyptus, thymol from commercial extracts, and cinnamaldehyde from cinnamon have demonstrated significant antifungal activities by targeting fungal cell walls, membranes, and gene expression. Additionally, compounds like eugenol from cloves and citral from lemongrass exhibit potent antimicrobial effects by disrupting cellular integrity. However, challenges such as variability in phytochemical content, limited clinical data, and potential drug interactions must be addressed. This review explores the potential of plant-based medicines for treating aspergillosis, emphasizing the need for further research to validate their effectiveness, safety, and optimal dosages through clinical studies.

Exploring lifestyle and dietary pattern shifts among Saudi adults during COVID-19 pandemic: insights from a cross-sectional examination.

Since the emergence of COVID-19 and the subsequent imposition of lockdown and movement restrictions, the world has witnessed fundamental lifestyle changes including alterations in dietary patterns and food consumption habits. Here, we investigated how the COVID-19 lockdown impacted dietary patterns and eating behaviors in the Saudi population. This cross-sectional study enrolled 427 participants aged 18 years or more, with 258 of them completing the survey. The survey included questions about demographic and dietary patterns during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were collected and dietary behaviors before and during the lockdown in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were analyzed. The number of participants who considered lunch as their primary meal significantly decreased (p < 0.001) during the COVID-19 lockdown (74%), compared to before it (86%). By contrast, the number of participants who considered dinner as their primary meal remained almost unchanged (p = 0.079) during (79.1%) and before (84.1%) the lockdown. However, snack consumption significantly increased (p < 0.001) while fast-food consumption significantly decreased (p < 0.01) during the lockdown period. Our results also revealed a significant increase (p < 0.01) in water and coffee intake during the lockdown, with a significant rise in dessert consumption (p < 0.01). Our results demonstrate that the COVID-19 lockdown caused a marked shift in dietary patterns and eating behaviors among the Saudi population. Notable changes were observed in overall food preferences after the lockdowns were imposed, with reduced consumption of fast foods and increased fluid intake.

Leadership Styles and Flexible Work Arrangements as Determinants of Turnover Intention for IT Professionals

An increasing employee turnover rate remains a substantial concern to business leaders. The emergence of COVID-19 led to a sharp rise in employee resignations, dubbed the Great Resignation in 2021. Organizations scrambled and implemented flexible work arrangements (FWA) to curtail the spread of the pandemic. This study used a quantitative correlational approach in examining the relationship between leadership styles, FWA, and turnover intention of IT professionals in the US. The theoretical foundation for the study includes the path-goal leadership theory and the flexible firm model. An online survey collected participants' responses across all US regions. The researcher analyzed valid responses from a sample of 204 participants using SPSS. The study reveals that 89 percent of IT professionals in the US use one form of flexible work arrangement or another. The results indicate a significant negative relationship between path-goal leadership styles at the individual level and collectively with turnover intentions. The result did not establish a significant relationship between FWA and turnover intentions. However, FWA options, including flex-time schedule and compressed workweek, significantly and positively correlated with turnover intentions, while telecommuting did not significantly correlate with turnover intentions. This study implies that business leaders' leadership styles and FWA strategies can influence their IT workforce turnover. Business leaders should endeavor to develop and implement a mix of leadership styles and FWA strategies suitable to attract and retain a talented IT workforce in their respective organizations.

Changes in primary healthcare workforce burnout during and after the termination of COVID-19 emergency response: A one-and-half-year observational study

ABSTRACT Background: Primary healthcare workforce (PHCW) should be suffered from less burnout after the termination of the COVID-19 response. The current study compared the changes in the three dimensions of burnout in PHCW during and after the response. Methods: Two convenience-sampling, online, cross-sectional questionnaire studies were conducted in local PHCW. Studies were administered in April 2022 and 8 months after the termination. Burnout was measured by the Chinese version of 15-item Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, which assesses three dimensions: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (reduced PA). The primary outcome was the prevalence of its three dimensions. Data on demographics, work environment, health conditions, and outlets for stress reduction were collected. We compared burnout and associated factors between the study periods by using Student’s t-test, Chi test, or Mann‒Whitney test. The association between factors and burnout was identified by a logistic regression model. Results: In total, 162 and 200 participants completed the questionnaires during and after the response. No significant differences in demographics, including age, gender, education attainment, work experience, or seniority level were observed. The prevalence of burnout-free status was similar (9.9% vs 12.5%, P = 0.434) between the two periods. Severe burnout decreased from 45.7% to 0%, and moderate burnout nearly doubled after the response. The prevalence of EE decreased the most, by 55.0%, followed by that of DP, which decreased by 38.4% (all P &lt; 0.001); however, there was no difference in the prevalence of reduced PA (77.2% vs 74.5%, P = 0.557). Logistic regression showed that promotion and alcohol consumption decreased the risk of EE. Considering leaving the job increases the risk of DP, a lower self-evaluated health score and more distress were associated with EE and DP. Exercise decreased the risk of reduced PA. Conclusions: Inconsistent with the hypothesis, we found that severe burnout decreased, but moderate burnout increased in PHCWs after the response. EE and DP decreased more, but reduced PA had no change. Incentives, improved self-evaluated health conditions, alcohol consumption, and exercise ameliorate burnout. Healthcare policy makers must consider multiple effective ways to mitigate burnout in the post-epidemic era.